Suite for Wind Quintet, op. 57 Lefebvre

Charles Lefebvre studied with Gounod and became a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. As a student, he won the Prix de Rome, and in general concentrated on oratorios and on works for the stage. He had the regard of his contemporaries but stood in the shadow of Saint-Saëns and Gounod. He dedicated his Suite to the Société de musique de chambre pour instruments à vent(Society of Chamber Music for Wind Instruments), the society founded by legendary flutist and pedagogue Paul Taffanel to revive wind literature and promote new compositions for winds. The Suite, Op. 57, composed in 1910, is a three-movement work, relatively short in its duration, and which conveys light and pleasant feelings of country life.

Three Summer Dances Turrin

Mr. Turrin is a significant contributor to the contemporary American musical life thanks to wide-ranging activities as a composer, pianist, orchestrator, conductor, and teacher. He studied composition at both Eastman School of Music and Manhattan School of Music, and has pursued a career that has always been multifaceted. His career encompasses an amazingly wide range of musical talents, and as a composer, he has produced works in many genres, including opera, concertos, film and stage music. The light and short Three Summer Dances are pleasant and light-footed entertaining compositions.

Lincolnshire Posy Grainger

In 1905, Percy Grainger attended a lecture on folk music, where he became fascinated with English folksong collecting. He collected his first song while attending a competition festival in Lincolnshire, and he was hooked. To start, Grainger would just wander up to a farmer plowing his fields and ask if he knew any songs. As the man sang, he would jot down the melody, and someone else would jot down the words. The composer writes: "Lincolnshire Posy, as a whole work, was conceived and scored by me direct for wind band early in 1937. Five, out of the six, movements of which it is made up, existed in no other finished form". The delightful set is completed by a sixth movement, The Lost Lady Found, a dance song that tells the story of a woman stolen by gypsies. Her uncle is suspected of doing away with her in order to acquire her estate. Her sweetheart, searching everywhere, eventually finds her in Dublin. Returning home, the pair arrives in time to prevent the uncle's hanging for the alleged crime. The town rejoices.

Variations sur un thème libre, Op.42 Bozza

Bozza, who studied composition, conducting, and violin at the Paris
Conservatoire, was known primarily for his chamber music, but his work includes five symphonies, operas, ballets, and many pieces for brass ensemble. He is particularly noted for his wind writing, having composed pieces for nearly all of the winds and strings during his academic career. His music for winds shows great familiarity with the capabilities of the instruments, often demanding a great deal of technical skill, without losing the expressive, melodic style typical of 20th century French chamber music. The seven short variations may be thought of as flash captions of the encounters a horseman makes during his heroic journey through imaginary adventures.

Three Moods Rubtsov

Three Moods was created in 2002, soon after oboist Andrey Rubtsov joined the Russian National Orchestra Wind Quartet. It was heavily influenced by his in-depth knowledge of a broad repertoire of works for quintets and likely became his most successful work. Its three movements outline three different approaches to the quintet as an ensemble. The first, Void, consists of separate patches of sound, which seem to come from far away and are divided by long breaths. The second is Sadness, where dense instrumentation and large-scale solos reference romantic compositions. And the final Frivolity is a Piazzolla-like scherzo, in which each instrument expresses delight.

Potpourri Fantastico Briccialdi

The Potpourri Fantastico belongs to the 19th century tradition of the operatic fantasy, a showpiece using melodies from popular operas of the day, in this case Rossini’s Barber of Seville. Often, derivative works such as these were dismissed by those in the “serious” music community and many showpieces suffered the fate of most popular music. The piece is witty and pleasant, and affords the opportunity to experience a largely forgotten musical tradition and the work of a composer who is quite rarely performed.